The Salmon Gene

Sometimes gene therapy couldn’t come soon enough…

Filling the foundation with sand to prepare for concrete slab and tiles in the bathroom.

If there’s a hard way to do something, I’ll find it. That’s my definition of the salmon gene—and there’s plenty of evidence I have it.

At ipyum, one example is our decision to build the Overwater Guest Houses first. In my defense, Komaria—my wife and ipyum’s co-owner—reminded me that it was her dream. She insisted we start there.

It turns out we’re both guided more by dreams than by conventional business logic.

Now, seeing how quickly the Beach Guest Houses are coming together gives me hope that we’ll finally launch in December 2025. We’ve just started our second Beach Guest House—two of five planned for this year.

For the second building, we’re skipping the concrete foundations for the tiled wet areas. Instead, we’re using ironwood: dense, rot-resistant, and far better for the environment than cement. The build should go up a lot faster, too.

Looking back, the idea of pouring concrete for a beach structure—like we did for Beach Guest House number one—was another classic salmon gene move.

With a little perseverance, after more than two years of dreaming and hard work, some dreams are finally coming to life.